


Picking Up The Pieces

by brokenhighways



Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Child Abandonment, Established Relationship, Family Reunions, M/M, Major Illness, One Shot, Post-Canon, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:28:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28972101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: Zero's mom shows up, and Jude's left picking up the pieces.
Relationships: Jude Kinkade/Zero | Gideon
Comments: 13
Kudos: 51
Collections: Zude





	Picking Up The Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Mercury22 for reading this over!

It's one of _those_ days. Zero is more handsy than usual, and less jumpy when it comes to not being spotted by fans or paparazzi who have figured out where they live. They're out of the car, bantering mindlessly about nothing and everything at the same time. Zero's pressing kisses to Jude's neck, grabbing him from behind and in the space of a microsecond he's freezing up. His grip becomes so tight Jude has to squeeze out of it. 

He's rubbing at his arm when he notices Zero isn't focusing on him, instead, he's transfixed by something in front of them. Jude turns slowly and only then does he spot the brown-haired women sitting on the floor by their gate. It's a cute picket fence painted mahogany because Zero only relented on _part_ of the cliché. Now Jude wonders if they should have extended the driveway and built a more secure gate like Zero wanted. 

They're able to live a private life here, but fans are nothing if not relentless. 

Maybe their mailman spilled the beans. 

"Can we help you, ma'am?" he calls out, hoping they can resolve this quickly and enjoy the rest of their day off. Jude waits for Zero to make some wisecrack about how he has _manners_ but there's a thick silence, growing and growing until he puts the pieces together.

Zero _knows_ this woman and based on the haunted expression in his eyes, she's someone important. 

Someone who means something to him.

Jude observes her closely... from where he is he can see the prominent frown lines and the faint trace of grey around her temples. Her eyes are what seal the deal, a piercing blue that he would recognise anywhere. 

"Maybe we should take this inside?" Jude's voice seems to echo into the afternoon air, yet it's like neither of them hears him. 

Zero's trembling slightly, and her eyes are shiny with unshed tears making Jude feel like an intruder. 

+

They sit at the kitchen table in silence save for the fridge which is humming its own tune, oblivious to the tension brewing. Jude wants to make coffee or cut a slice of a cake they don't have, or plate the cookies that Zero ate last night. He wishes they were normal, the kind of people who knew how to deal with things like this.

Zero's mother has dropped back into his life unexpectedly and they’re not equipped to handle it.

Jude takes a breath and decides to cut the tension himself. "Gideon, is there something you want to say? Or ask?"

Zero's head snaps towards Jude abruptly almost like he forgot he was there, his eyes softening when Jude offers him a small smile and rests his hand on his knee. He turns back to his mother and exhales slowly, placing his hand on top of Jude’s before he finally addresses his mother.

"How did you find me?" Zero asks her. "How did you get here?"

There's a calmness in his tone despite how shaken up he is which strikes Jude as odd. He dismisses it, thinking it's down to the stress of the moment. 

"The same way I lost you…" she coughs and bites her lips nervously. "This was the last known address the agency had when I…"

"When you, what? Saw me on TV?" 

The words lack bite and Jude remains quiet, not wanting to intrude on a private moment. Yet something picks away at his mind... something in the way Zero is approaching this is _off_. 

"That's not the case..." she trails off, and one could call Jude naïve, but he believes her. If she wanted a payday, she would have shown up much earlier the way Leo and Carla did. In fact, with the limited details Zero gave him, the last known address for his mom was a psychiatric hospital. He thought about paying extra to see her file…and then came to his senses because if Zero wanted him to know he would. 

"What then?" Zero says. “Why are you here? Are you lost?”

"I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year,” Zero’s mother tells him, like it’s the most regular thing in the world. “You and your sister."

Jude's eyes are glued to her face, watching every single microexpression and tracing them for a speck of dishonesty. He's not sure how she knows about Laura (who's shied away from the spotlight since she reconnected with Zero). 

"Happy New Year... _Mom_ …"

_That_ snaps Jude out of his observation mode. He knows when Zero is being sarcastic and that isn't it. He's out of the loop somehow, and he has to be patient and let the cards fall one by one so he can see the full deck. 

"Thank you, Gideon…I... I know this is unexpected. I wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do, but I had to see you. I had to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine." Zero's free hand snakes out slowly, reaching for hers and it's like a pin drops when he covers it with his own. 

"Good... I... I... I'm sorry. You do know that?"

Zero's gaze doesn't falter. "I know."

They stay like that for thirty minutes, with her not making another attempt to spark a conversation. If anything her eyes take on a vacant look, eyes glassy and wide like she's a shell. 

If Jude didn’t know any better, he’d think she didn’t know where she was and…

…the reality dawns. 

Jude is not surprised when Zero says, "I should probably call the residential home... they'll be wondering where she is."

Clenching his jaw, Zero casts one last glance at his mother before heading to the hallway to make the call, leaving her watching Jude with idle curiosity. 

"Who are you? My name is...Rose."

Jude blinks, staring back at Zero's mother. Up until now, she hasn't so much as looked at him, yet it's like her eyes are staring right through him.

"Hi, Rose. I'm Jude Kinkade. I'm a good friend of your son."

"I had to find him. Them. This is the last place. And he's here. He's okay."

"Yeah, he is. I'm taking good care of him."

There's a beat and Rose's eyes flick downward. A minute passes and it's like she's blinking out of a daze. With a sudden gasp, she spins her head around, circling the room with horror painted on her face.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

... and just like that Jude's heart breaks. 

+

It takes Zero a week before he's ready to talk about it, which Jude says a silent prayer for. Any longer and he'd have burst, spraying his emotions everywhere because all he wants to do is _be_ there. He wants to know more, wants Zero to lean on him the way it's meant to be. 

"The contractor first got in touch with me about a year ago. Before we moved on. He said this woman was outside asking for a Gideon and she wouldn't leave."

"Gideon... why didn't you say something?" Jude reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently to signal that he's not angry. 

Zero presses his lips together and gives Jude a jerky nod, accompanying it with a shaky smile. "It was the first time I've seen her in twenty years, Jude. I didn't say anything to _anyone_ that wasn't on her medical team."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Alzheimer's."

It falls from his lips in one swoop like it's the first time he's said it. 

"Does Laura know?"

Zero sucks in a breath and meets Jude's eyes. There's anguish all over his face and for a second Jude wonders how he _missed_ this - but it's not about him.

Right now it’s about being there for Gideon (and Laura when the time comes).

"I can't...How do I even tell her something like this?" Zero shudders, eyes falling back to the ground. "They think she had early-onset Alzheimer's... probably around the time she left us, but she dropped off the grid and there's a gap in her medical history."

"Is that why she left you?" 

"I don't know, Jude, but... she hasn't had a good life. I wanted to be angry with her that day when she came here. Except, it's like there's no one there. It's like watching a blank wall and I can't be mad anymore."

"Maybe that's a good thing…" Jude swallows down the urge to stop and defer back to Zero, forcing himself to continue. "What I mean is that you get to make your peace without anger clouding that process."

Anger is perhaps too strong of a word, but Jude doesn't correct himself. Zero never wears his emotions on his sleeve, but other than quiet resignation it was always disappointment he spoke about. He wasn't angry _,_ just confused and wondering if she ever loved him. 

"All I ever wanted was answers, Jude. I understand self-preservation, you know that. The idea of her leaving us and knowing where we were but feeling too afraid of herself to look after us... I have tried to wrap my head around it every day since I found out, but I guess I can't."

"It's okay," Jude murmurs. "That's okay. It's not going to happen overnight, and more importantly - you don't have to do it alone."

Zero picks his gaze up again, smiling briefly before it falls, like a leaf in the autumn wind sinking further and further until it's nestled on the ground. 

"I know, Jude." 

"No matter what happens, I'll always be here."

Zero doesn't respond, but he takes Jude's hand in his own and holds on tight.

  
_fin._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
